Road (sports)

A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue.[1] Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions. Each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games.

When a team is not the host, it must travel to games (usually by bus or car, hence "road", though increasingly also by plane for longer journeys). Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the road team, the visiting team, or the away team, and the game is described as a road game or an away game for that team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the visiting stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team.

The home team is often thought to have a home advantage over the visiting team, because of their familiarity with the environment, their shorter travel times, and the influence that a parochial crowd may have over an official's decisions. Another home team advantage that is unique to baseball is familiarity with the home ballpark's outfield dimensions and height of the outfield wall, as well as the size of foul territory and location of in-play obstacles (e.g., a bullpen on the playing field). Major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each team's home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other.

Occasionally, the road team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies. (Also, see the article on Subway Series for baseball series played between the New York Yankees, and New York's National League teams, and similar series between other teams that play in the same city or state.) A few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will often play in regional leagues or groundshare.

The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U.S. college sports in the 21st century, especially in basketball. While regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at neutral sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U.S. (as in the case of the Great Alaska Shootout and Maui Invitational) or even outside the country entirely (such as the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas). In turn, this has led to the use of "true road game" to refer to contests played at one team's home venue.

In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the away team's fans sit in their own section. Depending on the team's stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers and stadium officials. The reason of this arrangement is to prevent conflicts between fans in rival teams, which is a real concern in European association football leagues due to football hooliganism. However, in the semi-professional leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. [2] When games are played at a neutral site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium, both teams' fans will be allotted an even number of tickets. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium. This is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where relatively few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are also not separated at these games.

1.
Oklahoma Sooners
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The Oklahoma Sooners feature 19 varsity sports teams, each of which represents the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The universitys athletic teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association s Division I, the universitys current athletic director is Joe Castiglione. In 2002, the University of Oklahoma was ranked as the third best college sports program in America by Sports Illustrated. When combined with Blake Griffins John Wooden Award and Sam Bradfords Heisman Trophy, the University of Oklahoma was a charter member of the Southwest Athletic Conference during its formation in 1914. Five years later, in 1919, OU left the SWC, in 1928, this conference split, and OU remained aligned with the teams that formed the Big Six Conference. Over the next 31 years, more schools were added and the conference underwent several name changes, four more universities were added then and the name was changed one more time to its current form, the Big 12 Conference. The Oklahoma Sooners are represented in the following NCAA Division I varsity sports, Oklahoma has scored the most points in Division I-A football history despite the fact they have played over 60 fewer games than the second place school on that list. OU also has the highest winning percentage of any team since the start of the AP poll in 1936. This number is 3rd only to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, watts, Keith Jackson and Jammal Brown. More than a dozen Sooner players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Oklahoma has more Butkus award winners than any other school. Coaches Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, and Barry Switzer have passed through the tunnel for the Sooners. Owen was the first highly successful coach at OU and was an advocate of the forward pass. The playing surface at Oklahomas Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is popularly known as Owen Field in honor of his long tenure, the record of 47 straight wins is widely regarded as one of the great achievements in sports, and a streak that is unlikely to be broken. Switzer won three championships and forged arguably the fiercest rushing offense ever, the Oklahoma wishbone formation. Though the end of Switzers tenure at Oklahoma was marked by controversy and poor player behavior, during his 16 years as the Sooners head coach, Switzer led his team to 12 conference championships and never lost more than two games in a row. His winning percentage of.837 stands as the fourth-highest in the history of 1-A football, other Hall of Fame coaches whose tenure included stints at the University of Oklahoma are Lawrence Biff Jones and Jim Tatum. The mens basketball team is successful and rose to national prominence since the early 80s with head coach Billy Tubbs. It currently plays in the Lloyd Noble Center, which came to be known as the house Alvan Adams built, while the team has never won a national championship, it ranks second in most tournament wins without a championship behind Illinois

2.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants

3.
Baseball park
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A baseball park, also known as a ballpark or diamond, is a venue where baseball is played. A baseball park consists of the field and the surrounding spectator seating. While the diamond and the areas denoted by white painted lines adhere to rules, guidelines for the rest of the field are flexible. The term ballpark sometimes refers either to the structure, or sometimes to just the playing field. A home run where the player makes it around the bases, sometimes a home run over the fence is called out of the ballpark, but that phrase more often means a home run that clears the stands and lands outside the building. The playing field is most often called the ballfield, though the term is used interchangeably with ballpark when referring to a small local or youth league facility. A baseball field can be referred to as a diamond, the infield is a rigidly structured diamond of dirt containing the three bases, home plate, and the pitchers mound. The space between the bases and home is normally a grass surface, save for the mound in the center. Some ballparks, like Torontos Rogers Centre, have grass or artificial turf between the bases, and dirt only around the bases and pitchers mound, others, such as Koshien Stadium in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, have an entirely dirt infield. Two white lines run out from the plate area, aligned with first. These are the lines or base lines, usually differentiated by referring to them as the first base line. If a ball hit by the lands outside of the space between these two lines, or rolls out of this space before reaching first or third base, the ball is foul. If it lands between or on the lines, it is fair, at the end of the lines are two foul poles, which help the umpires judge whether a ball is fair or foul. These foul poles are actually in fair territory, so a ball hits them on the fly is a home run. On either side of plate are the two batters boxes This is where the batter stands when at bat. Behind home is the box, where the catcher and the home plate umpire stand. Next to first and third base are two boxes, where the first and third base coaches guide the baserunners, generally with gestures or shouts. As the baserunner faces away from the outfield when running from second base to third, they see where the ball is

4.
Foul ball
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Foul territory or foul ground is defined as the area of the field outside of the foul lines. The foul lines and foul poles are not part of foul territory, a strike is issued for the batter if he had fewer than two strikes. A strike is, however, recorded for the pitcher for every foul ball the batter hits, if any member of the fielding team catches a foul ball before it touches the ground or lands outside the field perimeter, the batter is out. A foul ball is different from a tip, in which the ball makes contact with the bat, travels directly to the catchers hands. In this case, a strike is issued to the batter regardless of the ball/strike count, some consider such a ball to still be in flight, while others consider it a foul ball and dead from the time it strikes. A ball that hits the roof or an object in fair territory is in play. If it gets stuck in fair territory, it is ruled a ground rule double, in different situations, a foul ball may be considered a positive or negative outcome of a pitch or swing. When there are zero or one strikes, a foul ball counts as a strike, foul balls with two strikes are generally considered positive for the batter, since he thus avoids strike three on a potentially difficult pitch. Also, foul balls with two strikes increase the pitch count, adding to his/her fatigue, thus providing some small advantage to the offense

5.
Bullpen
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In baseball, the bullpen is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. A teams roster of relief pitchers is also referred to as the bullpen. These pitchers usually wait in the if they have not yet played in a game. The starting pitcher also makes his final pregame warm-up throws in the bullpen, managers can call coaches in the bullpen on an in-house telephone from the dugout to tell a certain pitcher to begin his warm-up tosses. Each team generally has its own consisting of two pitching rubbers and plates at regulation distance from each other. In most Major League Baseball parks, the bullpens are situated out-of-play behind the outfield fence, there are currently four MLB parks with bullpens in playable foul territory, Wrigley Field, AT&T Park, Oakland Coliseum and Tropicana Field. The origin of the bullpen, as used in baseball, is debated, with no one theory holding unanimous, or even substantial. The term first appeared in wide use shortly after the turn of the 20th century and has used since in roughly its present meaning. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest recorded use of bullpen in baseball is in a 1924 Chicago Tribune article from October 5. The earliest known usage of the bull pen relating to an area of a baseball field is in a New York Times article from June 24,1883. The earliest known relief pitching related usage of bullpen in the New York Times is in an article dated September 18,1912, there are numerous examples—some historical, some speculative—about the possible origin of the term bullpen. During the Civil War in the United States, the notorious Andersonville prison camp was referred to, by the inmates, though conditions were initially a vast improvement over Richmond detention centers, problems grew in proportion to the number of inmates. By late summer 1864, the population made Andersonville one of the largest cities in the Confederacy. At its peak in August, the bullpen, built to lodge up to 10,000 enlisted men, held 33,000 grimy, gaunt prisoners, planks or limbs were laid from the center pole to the ground creating what is also known as a lean-to. The planks or limbs were covered with tent shelter halves, gum sheets, overcoats, if no woven material was available, then the shelter was covered in broad leaves giving the owner some shade but little protection from the rain. This wartime usage in the United States has occurred as recently as World War II, tokio Yamane described conditions in Japanese relocation camps, referring to a bull pen within a stockade at Tule Lake, California. Prisoners in the stockade lived in buildings which, although flimsy. However, prisoners in the bull pen were housed outdoors in tents without heat, the bunks were placed directly on the cold ground, and the prisoners had only one or two blankets and no extra clothing to ward off the winter chill

6.
Local derby
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A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, the intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the other that, in one case, was suggested to have led to military conflicts. Simple geographic proximity as well as frequent meetings in important games can lead to rivalries and it was renowned as the site of a chaotic and exuberant game that involved the whole town and often resulted in fatalities. The goals were at Nuns Mill in the north and the Gallows Balk in the south of the town, nominally the players came from All Saints and St Peters parishes, but in practice the game was a free-for-all with as many as 1,000 players. A Frenchman who observed the match in 1829 wrote in horror, if Englishmen call this play, the traditional Shrovetide football match is commonplace in the town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Saraperos de Saltillo vs. Vaqueros Laguna on a game named Coahuilas Metropolitan Derby, pericos de Puebla vs. Rojos del Águila de Veracruz on a game named Center rivalry. Diablos Rojos del México vs. Péricos de Puebla on a game named Anahuac Derby, naranjeros de Hermosillo vs. Tomateros de Culiacán on a game named Derby of the Pacific Coast. Charros de Jalisco vs. Venados de Mazatlán on a game named Rivalry of the west, real Madrid Basque derby, Baskonia vs. Alpla HC Hard Minsk derbies, Dinamo Minsk vs. SKA Minsk vs. Arkatron Minsk Liège derbies, ROC Flémalle vs. Union Beynoise ROC Flémalle vs. Jeunesse Jemeppe, union Beynoise vs. HC Visé BM. Germanophone derby, HC Eynatten-Raeren vs. KTSV Eupen 1889 Limburg derbies, sporting Neerpelt-Lommel vs. Kreasa HB Houthalen vs. DHC Meeuwen. Anvers derbies, KV Sasja HC Hoboken vs. Olse Merksem HC vs. DHW Antwerpen vs. HV Uilenspiegel Wilrijk

7.
Subway Series
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The Subway Series is a series of Major League Baseball rivalry games played between the two teams based in New York City, the Yankees and the Mets. Previously, this applied to the Giants and Dodgers as well, every historic and current venue for such games has been accessible via the New York City Subway, hence the name of the series. The terms historic usage has been in reference to World Series games played between the citys teams, since 1997, the term Subway Series has been applied to interleague play during the regular season between the Yankees and New York Citys National League team, the New York Mets. The Mets and Yankees also played each other in the 2000 World Series, the following season, Brooklyn withdrew from the Association and joined the League, setting the stage for many future intra-city competitions. Some might argue that the 1889 Series would qualify as a Trolley Series, the 1906 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox is also loosely referred to as a Subway Series, though the term Crosstown Series is more commonly used. The term is inaccurate, since Chicago had surface systems from 1892 till the building of the State Street Subway in 1943. The 155th Street elevated and subway stations, the 161st Street station, in the case of the World Series contests listed, the entire Series could be attended by using the subway. The date of the first usage of the term Subway Series is uncertain, the term Nickel Series appeared in newspapers by 1927, and Subway Series appeared by 1928. The 1921 and 1922 match-ups were played in a single ballpark, the Giants won both of these World Series against the Yankees, the first two Subway Series played. The Yankees opened their new ballpark in 1923, fortunes changed immediately for the Yankees as they defeated the Giants this time in the third straight year of World Series competition between the two teams. Their new home would host the Yankees first of 11 Subway World Series victories that year, the venues for the 1923,1936,1937, and 1951 World Series—the Polo Grounds and the old Yankee Stadium—were a short walk apart across the Macombs Dam Bridge over the Harlem River. Of course, anyone in the city not living in that vicinity could have opted for the subway system, the term was used again in 1941 when the Dodgers made their first World Series appearance since 1920. Despite Brooklyns repeated success at winning the National League pennant, it was able to win one World Series against the Yankees. The match-ups were known as the City Series and were played in October while other teams played in the World Series. However, after 1940, this became difficult because the Yankees would routinely appear in the World Series. In the 17 years from 1941 to 1957, the Yankees appeared in the World Series 12 times, failing to reach the Series only in 1944,1945,1946,1948, and 1954. The proceeds raised by the Yankees were given to leagues in Manhattan, the annual charity event was discontinued following the 1957 season, when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the Giants moved to San Francisco. Leaving the Yankees as the major league team in the city

8.
College basketball
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The history of basketball is traced back to a YMCA International Training School, known today as Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The date of the first formal basketball game played at the Springfield YMCA Training School under Naismiths rules is generally given as December 21,1891, Basketball began to spread to college campuses by 1893. Governing bodies in Canada include U Sports and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, each of these various organizations are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. The first basketball games in the United States were played at YMCAs in 1891 and 1892, by 1893, the game was being played on college campuses. The original rules for basketball were very different from todays modern rules of the sport, in the beginning James Naismith established 13 original rules, The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist, a player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, the ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it, no shouldering, holding, pushing, striking, or tripping in any way of an opponent is allowed. A foul will be called when a player is seen striking at the ball with the fist, or when violations of rules 3 and 4, if either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, if the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal. When the ball out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field, the thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent, if any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and he shall have power to disqualify men according to rule 5. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to side it belongs. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, the time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner, the following is a list of some of the major NCAA Basketball rule changes with the year they went into effect. The first known college to field a team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University

9.
Maui Invitational Tournament
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It is hosted by Chaminade University of Honolulu, an NCAA Division II school. Seven NCAA Division I mens basketball teams are invited to Maui to complete the field, the Maui Invitational has been played since 1984, is carried by ESPN. Maui Jim became the sponsor of the tournament in 2015. The tournament had its roots in a game that is considered one of the greatest upsets in college history, on December 23,1982 the top-ranked and undefeated University of Virginia made a scheduled trip to Honolulu for a game. Originally seeking to play the University of Hawaii, Virginia agreed to play Chaminade, shortly after the upset, Virginia head coach Terry Holland congratulated Chaminades athletic director, Mike Vasconcellos, and suggested to him that he consider beginning a Hawaii tournament. Two years later, the Maui Classic was inaugurated with Chaminade reaching the finals, today the tournament provides schools an opportunity to compete on a neutral court with some of the top basketball programs in the country. Associated Press college basketball editor Jim OConnell calls the Maui Jim Maui Invitational the best in-season tournament in the country – the standard by all others are compared. Some 108 schools representing 26 conferences and 40 states have competed in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, beginning with the 2011 tournament, the field includes four additional mainland teams that play the Maui-bound teams at home. The four mainland teams will play each other in regional games. The winner from each game will square off in the championship contest, former player and TV commentator Bill Walton is a huge fan of the tournament and Maui Jim. He always has fun on the island when covering the tournament, each year more than 4,000 out-of state visitors—boosters, players, officials, team and game personnel, media representatives, sponsors, production crews and basketball fans in general—attend. The tournament has brought more than $110 million to Mauis economy since the debut in 1984. Cal Chaminade LSU Marquette Michigan Notre Dame VCU Wichita State Arizona Auburn Duke Gonzaga Illinois Iowa State San Diego State Xavier Official website

10.
Battle 4 Atlantis
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The games are played in the Imperial Arena, a grand ballroom which is turned into a basketball venue. The tournament is known for being the richest Division I Men’s pre-season college basketball tournament, schools are awarded $2 million in exchange for their participation in the event. The tournament is promoted by Kerzner International, and is televised by AXS TV, ESPN, ESPN2, November 23–25 All Times Eastern Battle4Atlantis Mainland Six teams will be playing a non-bracketed home game against one of three Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland schools before the tournament. In addition, the three schools will play games against each other in the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland from November 23–25 at FGCUs Alico Arena

11.
Walsall F.C.
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Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team play in League One, the tier in the English football league system. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F. C. and their first match at Wembley Stadium was the 2015 Football League Trophy Final, which they lost to Bristol City. Walsall moved into their Bescot Stadium in 1990, having played at nearby Fellows Park for almost a century. The ground is known as Bankss Stadium for sponsorship purposes, the team play in a red and white kit and their club crest features a swift. The clubs nickname, The Saddlers, reflects Walsalls status as a centre for saddle manufacture. Walsall were formed as Walsall Town Swifts in 1888 when Walsall Town F. C. Walsall Town had been founded in 1877 and Walsall Swifts in 1879. Both clubs had played at the Chuckery, and the new club remained at the same ground, Walsall Town Swifts first match was a draw against Aston Villa. Two players from this early era received international caps, in 1882, Alf Jones won the first two of his three caps while with Walsall Swifts, and in 1889 Albert Aldridge received the second of his two caps while playing for Walsall Town Swifts. The club were first admitted to the Football League in 1892 and they moved to the West Bromwich Road ground in 1893. After finishing 14th out of 16 teams in 1894–95 the club failed to be re-elected to the Football League, at the start of the 1895 season the club moved to Hilary Street, later renamed Fellows Park. In 1896 they changed their name to Walsall F. C. a year later, they returned to the Second Division, three teams having failed re-election in 1896. The team finished in place in 1898–99, but once again failed re-election two years later, dropping back into the Midland League. A move to the Birmingham League followed in 1903, and in 1910, with the expansion of the Football League after World War I, Walsall became a founding member of the Third Division North in 1921. Walsalls highest home attendance was set in 1930, when played in of front of 74,600 fans against Aston Villa in the FA Cup Fourth Round. Although a home match for Walsall, the tie was played at their opponents Villa Park ground, in 1933, Walsall won 2–0 in the FA Cup against Arsenal at Fellows Park. Arsenal went on to win the First Division that season, in 1958, following a reorganisation of the Football League, Walsall became founder members of the Fourth Division. Players such as Bill Chopper Guttridge, Tony Richards and Colin Taylor were intrinsically important to the success of the side

12.
Bescot Stadium
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Bescot Stadium, also known as the Bankss Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Walsall, England, and the current home ground of Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989-90, by GMI Construction, with a build cost of £4. 5m. The stadium replaced the previous ground, Fellows Park, which was located a quarter of a mile away. The stadium was opened on 18 August 1990, by Sir Stanley Matthews, the first competitive game was played a week later on 25 August 1990. 5,219 spectators watched Walsall draw 2-2 with Torquay United, the first goal scored for Walsall at the stadium was by Stuart Rimmer. A sponsorship deal with Banks Brewery in 2003 saw the changed from Bescot Stadium to Banks Stadium. The stadium has been host to England under-21, under-19 and under-17 international matches, Aston Villa reserve team matches and England womens international matches. Outside football, in 1991 the stadium hosted a concert by Black Country band The Wonder Stuff Originally both ends of the ground were standing areas, and the capacity of the ground was around 11,000. However, capacity was reduced to around 9,800 in 1992, following an extension to the Tile Choice Stand, during the 2002-03 season, it is now an all-seater stadium, with a capacity of 11,300. The stadium is situated less than a mile from junction 9 of the M6 motorway, has a railway station within easy walking distance. Bescot Stadium has two large conferencing suites - the Bonser Suite and the Stadium Suite, the Bonser Suite adjoins the rear of the Main Stand, while the Stadium Suite is underneath the upper tier of the northern most stand. Both suites host conferences, cabaret evenings, concerts and events, there are food and beverage kiosks in all four corners of the ground, whilst the Bonser Suite doubles as a restaurant on match days. In 2009, the club erected a large advertising hoarding to the south of the southern most stand, facing the M6 motorway. It was reported in the Express and Star Newspaper on 6 June 2008, that Walsall were attempting to sell the stadium to Walsall Council, the Council, however, stated they did not have the funds to purchase the ground. During Spring 2011, the owner of Bescot Stadium, Jeff Bonser, announced via his proxy, Suffolk Life, steve Jenkins, record producer and lifelong Walsall supporter, tried to drum up support for the council to buy the land. On 11 July 2011, the idea of ownership of Bescot Stadium was finally put to bed after the council voted 28-24 against purchasing the stadium. Plans to develop the southern most stand were announced by the club during 2005, the proposed development would mean using the blueprint of the northern most stand, which stands opposite it. Funding for the redevelopment was to come, in part, from an advertising board on the back of the stand facing the M6 motorway

13.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England

14.
Football hooliganism
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Football hooliganism is unruly, violent, and destructive behaviour by football supporters. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, often known as football firms, formed for the purpose of intimidating and physically attacking supporters of other teams, other terms commonly used in connection with hooligan firms include army, boys, casuals, and crew. Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be more severe, conflict may take place before, during or after matches. Participants often select locations away from stadia to avoid arrest by the police, in extreme cases, hooligans, police, and bystanders have been killed, and body-armoured riot police have intervened with tear gas, police dogs, armoured vehicles and water cannons. Hooligan-led violence has been called aggro and bovver, to run opposing hooligans is to make them flee. Hooligans who can afford the time and money follow national teams to away matches and they may also become involved in disorder involving the general public. While national-level firms do not exist in the form of club-level firms, fighting with weapons including sports bats, glass bottles, rocks, rebar, knives, machetes and firearms. Disorderly crowd behaviour such as pushing, which may cause stadium fixtures such as fences, similar effects can occur when law-abiding crowds try to flee disorder caused by hooligans. The first instance of violence is unknown, but the phenomenon can be traced back to 14th-century England. In 1314, Edward II banned football because he believed the disorder surrounding matches might lead to social unrest and this same paper also identified pitch invasions as a common occurrence during the 1880s in English football. In 1885, after Preston North End beat Aston Villa 5–0 in a friendly match, one Preston player was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness and press reports at the time described the fans as howling roughs. The following year, Preston fans fought Queens Park fans in a railway station—the first alleged instance of football hooliganism outside of a match. In 1905, a number of Preston fans were tried for hooliganism, including a drunk and disorderly 70-year-old woman, the label football hooliganism first began to appear in the English media in the mid-1960s, leading to increased media interest in, and reporting of, acts of disorder. It has been argued that this in turn created a moral out of proportion with the scale of the actual problem. Football hooliganism has factors in common with juvenile delinquency and what has been called ritualized male violence, Football violence is also thought to reflect expressions of strong emotional ties to a football team, which may help to reinforce a supporter’s sense of identity. Writing for the BBC in 2013, David Bond stated that in the UK, the scale of trouble now compared to then doesnt bear comparison – either in terms of the number of people involved or the level of organisation. Football has moved on thanks to banning orders and better, more sophisticated policing, and while it is too simplistic to say that the higher cost of watching football has pushed unsavoury elements out, there has been a shift in the way people are expected to behave inside grounds. Offensive chants are still way too commonplace but actual fighting doesnt happen very often, Football hooligans often appear to be less interested in the football match than in the associated violence

15.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today

16.
Designated hitter
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In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 5.11, adopted by the American League in 1973. The rule allows teams to have one player, known as the designated hitter, since 1973, most collegiate, amateur, and professional leagues have adopted the rule or some variant. MLBs National League and Nippon Professional Baseballs Central League are the most prominent professional leagues that do not use a designated hitter, in Major League Baseball, the designated hitter is a hitter who does not play a position, but instead fills in the batting order for the pitcher. The DH may only be used for the pitcher, as stated in Rule 5.11, use of the DH is optional, but must be determined prior to the start of the game. If a team does not begin a game with a DH, the designated hitter may be replaced as DH only by a player who has not entered the game. If a pinch hitter bats for, or a pinch runner runs for, the DH, the designated hitter can be moved to a fielding position during the game. If the DH is moved to position, his team forfeits the role of the designated hitter. If the designated hitter is moved to pitcher, any subsequent pitcher would bat should that spot in the order come up again. Unlike other positions, the DH is locked into the batting order, No multiple substitution may be made to alter the batting rotation of the DH. In other words, a switch involving the DH and a position player is not legal. For example, if the DH is batting fourth and the catcher is batting eighth, the manager cannot replace both players so as to have the new catcher bat fourth and the new DH bat eighth. In Major League Baseball, during play, the application of the DH rule is determined by the identity of the home team. If the game is played in an American League park, the hitter may be used, in a National League park. At first, the DH rule was not applied to the World Series, from 1973 to 1975, all World Series games were played under National League rules, with no DH and pitchers batting. For 1976, it was decided the DH rule would apply to all games in a World Series, regardless of venue, but only in even-numbered years. Cincinnati Reds first baseman Dan Driessen became the first National League player to act as a DH in any capacity when he was listed as the DH in the first game. Beginning in 1986, the DH rule was used in games played in the stadium of the American League representative, there was initially no DH in the All-Star Game. Beginning in 1989, the rule was applied only to games played in American League stadiums, since 2010, the designated hitter has always been used by both teams regardless of where the game is played